Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol will join Team Canada as an assistant coach at the 2017 IIHF World Championships, it was announced Tuesday. Hakstol joins Flyer general manager Ron Hextall, who is serving as GM for the Canadian team at the Worlds.
Hakstol will serve under Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, who will be the head coach of Team Canada. Joining Hakstol as assistants are former Florida Panthers coach Gerard Gallant and longtime coach Dave King.
Hextall actually selected Hakstol to fill this role, so if you were hoping that Hakstol might be on the outs with the Flyers organization or that maybe he’d even be fired at some point this offseason, you should probably stop holding your breath.
It’s clear that the relationship there between the two is just fine, although it is a little ironic to give your head coach the assistant gig while another NHL head coach gets the head coaching gig.
